Mitchell BSC Player of the Week for Third Time

Nov 14, 2011

Senior quarterback passes for 436 yards and five TDs in
53-51 triple-overtime win, and is just 391 yards from single season
record

Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell has won Big Sky
Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for the third time
this season after recording the ninth-most yards in school history
with a 436-yard performance against Cal Poly last Saturday (Nov.
12). Mitchell, who also won following victories over Northern
Arizona and Northern Colorado, shares this week’s award with
Weber State running back C.J. Tuckett.

Mitchell (#9 in picture) completed 34-of-50 passes with an
interception and five touchdown passes to five different receivers.
He provided the winning points with a 25-yard TD pass to
Greg Herd on the first play of the third overtime
and subsequent scramble for the two-point conversion.

Mitchell’s older brother, Cory Mitchell
(#19 in picture), caught a 22-yard TD in the game and finished with
career highs of seven catches and 132 receiving yards. He was
selected as the team's Offensive Player of the Week.

The effort by the “Gunslinger” in the 53-51
triple-overtime victory gives him 3,612 yards for the year –
just the 11th performance by an Eagle of at least 3,000 passing
yards in a single season. His yardage ranks fifth in school
history, ahead of the 3,496 yards he had in 15 games as a junior
last season. He is just 95 yards from moving into fourth (Erik
Meyer - 3,707 in 2004), 132 from third (Matt Nichols - 3,744 in
2007), 218 from second (Nichols - 3,830 in 2009) and 391 from the
school record of 4,003 set by Meyer in 12 games in 2005.

With a quartet of 400-yard passing performances this season
– and three more of at least 300 – Mitchell is on
pace to break the school record for both single season and
career passing yards per game. His current season average of 361.2
ranks ahead of the current record set in 2005 by Walter Payton
Award winner Erik Meyer when he averaged 333.6 yards per game.
Mitchell’s career average of 284.3 per outing ranks ahead of
the 268.4 average of Matt Nichols (2006-09).

Despite playing just two seasons at Eastern, Mitchell already
ranks fourth in school history for career passing yards (7,108) and
third in touchdown passes (66), and he is also fourth in
completions (581), fourth in attempts (957) and fourth in passing
efficiency rating (140.2). He now has nine 300-yard performances in
his 25-game EWU career, including four of the 19 400-yard
performances in school history.

Mitchell had 440 yards against Portland State on Oct. 29 to rank
as the seventh-most in school history. Earning his second-straight
Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor, Mitchell had
an even 400 passing yards in EWU’s 48-27 win over Northern
Colorado on Oct. 15, finishing with three touchdowns through the
air and one on the ground. He completed 28-of-39 passes with no
interceptions. His passing efficiency rating of 183.3 was the
second-best performance in his career, ranking only behind the
192.7 rating he had last season versus Northern Arizona (20-of-26,
288 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions).

Mitchell followed his performance against UNC with a 357-yard
effort against Sacramento State, throwing four touchdown passes to
Nicholas Edwards en route to a 42-35 come-from-behind overtime
victory.

In a 36-28 win at Northern Arizona on Oct. 8, Mitchell passed
for 356 yards – accounting for all of EWU’s touchdowns
and all but 34 of Eastern’s total of 390 yards of offense.
One of his TD passes was a 17-yard completion to his older brother
Cory Mitchell, who leaped high in the air to pull
down the pass that Bo Levi admitted later was intended for another
receiver. As a result, Mitchell was selected as Big Sky Conference
co-Offensive Player of the Week -- the first such honor for the
senior from Katy, Texas.

Mitchell’s career-high for passing yards was 473 in
EWU’s season-opener this year against Washington on Sept. 3
when he completed 39-of-69 passes to rank second in school history
for yards, completions and attempts.

A year ago, he was an honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference
selection and was the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Division
I Championship Game won by the Eagles 20-19 over Delaware.